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ON THE 

COLONIZATION SOCIETY; 

WITH A VIEW OF 

ITS 3PROBAB1E RESULTS, 

UNDER THE FOLLOWING HEADS : 

The Origin of the Society ; Increase of the Coloured Population ; 
Manumission of Slaves in this country ; 

DECLARATIONS OF LEGISLATURES, AND OTHER ASSEMBLED 
BODIES, IN FAVOUR OF THE SOCIETY; 

Situation of the Colonists at Monrovia and other towns; Moral and Reli- 
gions Character of the Settlers; Soil, Climate, Prodnetions, 
and Commerce of Laoeria; 

Advantages to the free coloured Population, by emigration to Liberia ; Disadvan- 

tages of slavery to the white population; Character of the Natives ot Atnca, 

before the irruptions of the Barbarians; Effects of Colonization on the Slave 

Trade, with a slight sketch of that nefarious and accursed traffic. 



ADDRLSSF.D TO THE HON. CHARLES F. MERCER, M. H. R. U. S. 



3^ S2o 9^23^4 



THIRD EDITION, ENLARGED AND IMPROVED; 



"Nearlv 2.000 persons have kindled a beacon fire at Monrovia, to cast abroad blaze of light 
into thedark'reeesFesofthat benighted land ; tnd though much pains have been taken to over, ate 
the cost, an<l undervalue the result!, yet the annals of colonization may be triumphantly challenged 



for a parallel. 



ars of preliminary operations were requisite for surveying the coast-propitiating the 
tauvesland seUcM ng t he most eligible -i.e. Numerous .genu were subsequently empWd-ships 
charTered -the coast^cleared-schools, factories, hospitals, churches, government buiMings and 
dwelling erected-and the many expenses requisite here were defrayed ;-and yet, lonvei Wy 
dollar expended by the society from its commencement, we have not only a settler to show, but an 
ample anVfertile territory in reserve, where our future emigrants may ' sit down under then- own 
vS fig r ^es"v!!h none to make them afraid.' During the last year ar. amount, nea, Y eqmU 
to the united expenditures, has been exported by the colon.-ts. From Philadelphia «'«"'. ''«** 
wl. have sailed; three of them chartered .hroughUte efforts of the Pennsylvania Society and 
bearing to the land of Uieir fathers a large number of slaves, manumitted by the benevolence ot 
their late owners."— Cretton. 

Philadelphia, May 39, 1833. 



YOUNG, rRINTKR. 



v 



"We may boldly challenge the annals of human nature for the record of any 
human plan, for the melioration of the condition or advancement of the happiness 
of our race, which promised more unmixed good, or more comprehensive benefi- 
cence than that of African colonization, if carried into full execution. Its benevo- 
lent purpose is not limited by the confines of one continent, nor to the prosperity of 
a solitary" race; but embraces two of the largest quarters of the earth, and the peace 
and the happiness of both of the descriptions of their present inhabitants, with the 
countless millions of their posterity who are to succeed. It appeals for aid and 
support to the friends of liberty, here and elsewhere. The colonists, reared in the 
bosom of this republic, with a perfect knowledge of all the blessings which freedom 
imparts, altho' they have not always been able themselves to share them, will carry 
a recollection of it to Africa, plant it there, and spread it over her boundless terri- 
tory. And may we not indulge the hope, that, in a period of time not surpassing in 
duration, that of our own colonial and national existence, we shall behold a con- 
federation of republican states, on the western shores of Africa, like our own, with 
their congress and annual legislatures, thundering forth in behalf of the rights of 
man, and making tyrants tremble on their thrones." — Mr. Clay. 

" It will enable them to become a free, independent, civilized and christian nation 
in the land of their forefathers. Elevated in character and in full enjoyment of* the 
rights ofman, they will not only assume a station in the great human family which 
it is impossible for them to attain in this country ; but their example and influence 
will gradually extend over those numerous tribes, which through all time have 
remained in a state of barbarism and degradation, and cruelly subjected to slavery 
by surrounding and distant nations." — Dearborn. 

" They point to Africa, sitting beneath her own palm trees, " clothed in sack- 
cloth, and weeping for her children, and refusing to be comforted," because they 
have been murdered on her desolated shores, and buried beneath the billows of the 
ocean and carried into hopeless and interminable slavery. Wretched Africa ! she 
has indeed fallen among thieves, who have robbed and wounded her, and she is now 
bleeding from a thousand wounds ! Who will act to her the part of a good Samaritan ? 
Who will "bind up her wounds, and pour into them wine and oil," and protect her 
from her enemies, and chase away those human vultures, that are perpetually ho- 
vering on her coasts, and feeding on the flesh and blood of her children ? Who will 
light for her the lamp of science, and publish the glad tidings of salvation to her 
sons and daughters ? and raise her from that state of moral degradation, into 
which she has sunk in the lapse of ages ? " — M'Kenney. 

" There is not, we believe, another benevolent enterprize on earth, so well cal- 
culated to secure the favourable opinion and enlist the hearty good will of all 
men, as this, when its objects and bearings are fully understood. In relation to 
this society, it is eminently the fact, that opposition nn<i indifference have their 
origin in prejudice or want of information. Ignorance may raise an objection 
which it requires knowledge to remove ; and to rest one's refusal to co-operate in 
what he is told is a good work, on his own ignorance, is both weak and wicked. 
Especially in relation to a benevolent enterprize of such magnitude as this, and 
which has been some ten or fifteen years before the public, the plea of ignorance 
is made with a very ill grace." 

" Is a nation like this to be embarrassed by annual appropriation of little more 
than a million of dollars to the cause of humanity ? a nation that can extinguish in 
a year twelve millions of national debt, and at the same time prosecute with vigour 
its majestic plans of defence and internal improvement? a nation, one of whose 
states can hazard six millions of dollars on the project of opening a canal— a nation, 
whose canvass whitens every sea, and proudly enters almost every harbour of the 
„l h e ?— a nation, whose villages and cities are rising, as by magic, over a fertile 
territory of two millions of square miles— a nation, destined within the compass 
of the passing century to embosom a white population of eighty millions ? V\ ith 
the past smiles of Divine Providence, our national debt will be soon annihi- 
lated. And from that <?lad hour, let the government provide liberally for all its 
necessary operations— let it push forward in its splendid machinery of political 
improvement, and then give to our cause but the surplus of its revenue : and as 
regards the expense of transportation, it will {at no distant day) furnish the mean* 
of granting to every African exile among us, a happy home in the land of his 
f&t,hers." — Rev. B. Dickinson, 



PREFACE. 

" From the ardent opposition made to the Colonization Society 
by some of our white citizens, and by a number of the free coloured 
population, it might be supposed, by those unacquainted with the 
nature of the case, that the emigrants were absolutely pressed, 
like British seamen, and hurried off against their inclinations — 
that they were here in the enjoyment of all the solid advantages of 
society, each man "sitting under his own vine and his fig tree, 
and none to make him afraid" — that in Liberia they were to be in 
some degree enslaved — and that the climate was pestilential and 
the soil sterile and ungrateful. Were this a true picture of the 
case, the opposition to the society could not be more ardent or 
zealous. 

I have treated on the situation of the free coloured population 
of this country, (p. 27) and shall not therefore refer to it here: but so 
far as regards the colony at Liberia, it is proved, by evidence 
of the most undeniable character — of American Captains, Kenne- 
dy, Sherman, Nicholson, and Abels; by that of Mr. Devany, a co- 
loured man, High Sheriff of Liberia, who had been in the co- 
lony for six years, made a handsome fortune, and returned to this 
country to visit his friends and relations ; — and more especially 
by that of a committee of the colonists at Monrovia, appointed to 
draw up an address to their brethren in this country; that the pro- 
ject of colonization has fully realized, and not merely realized, but 
exceeded the most sanguine expectations formed of it by its ar- 
dent supporters ; that the contrast between the situation of the 
colonists and that of their brethren in this country is immensely 
in favour of the former; and that the condition of the most favoured 
of the free coloured population here, is inferior in many important 
particulars to that of the great mass of the colonists, any one of 
whom may, by good behaviour, aspire to the hignest office in the 
colony, and in the election of officers, he has as free a voice as 
Mr. Madison or Mr. Adams has in the election of state and United 
States' officers. 

It is, therefore, difficult to conceive what good purpose can be 
answered by the opposition to the plan of colonization, or by what 
motive its opposers can be influenced. 

There are three strong points of view in which this subject may 
be considered, which must gain for colonization the zealous and 
efficient support of every man, white or coloured, who is not 
under the dominion of inveterate and incurable prejudice. I omit 
other important points which might be mooted. 

I. The colony has arrested the progress of the nefarious and 
accursed slave trade in its neighbourhood; destroyed some slave 
factories, and liberated a number of slaves who were on the point 
of being transported across the Atlantic, subject to all the hor- 
rors of the passage, and, if they escaped with life, to the horrors of 
perpetual slavery; and there cannot be a doubt that at no distant 
day the trade will be annihilated on the whole of the western 
coast of Africa. 

, II- ^ nas been the means of securing the emancipation of hun- 
^eds of slaves, in various parts of the United States, who are 



now in a genial climate, enjoying the luxury of freedom with a*, 
its attendant blessings ; and, from the present disposition of the 
citizens of some of the slave states, particularly Virginia, there is 
no doubt that thousands will be emancipated as fast as means of 
transportation can be procured. 

III. It has commenced spreading the blessings of civilization, 
morals, and religion among the natives in the neighbourhood of 
the colony, whom it has taught to depend on honest industry in 
the cultivation of the soil, instead of the demoniac operation of 
setting fire to towns and villages, for the horrible purpose of 
seizing the wretched fugitives flying from the flames, which was 
their former occupation. 

Now I freely appeal to Mr. Garrison, and Mr. Lundy, the most 
formidable opposers of colonization, and to their friends, and beg 
them to lay their hands on their hearts, and answer in the presence 
of their Maker, if any one of those objects does not repay tenfold 
the sacrifice which the whole have cost ? 

Among the objections — how easy to make plausible objections! — 
offered to the colonization plan, one is, that considering the im- 
mense number of the coloured people in this country, about 2,400, 
000, it is impossible to make any serious impression on them by 
emigration, especially as the colony at present, after twelve years 
existence, contains but 2,000 souls. Let us examine this objection. 
The annual increase, as I have shown, is about 60,000. The 
expense to the government, or the society, will probably be $25 
per head for all the emigrants large and small (taking into conside- 
ration those who pay, or whose masters will pay their passage), or 
about $1,500,000 per ann. for that number. This sum, provided 
the subject were cordially taken up by the state legislatures and 
congress, would not be attended with the slightest difficulty. In- 
deed, if encountered with the zeal which its importance demands, 
twice the sum could be easily raised. But then the objectors 
emphatically demand, how shall we provide for the transportation 
of such a number ! 

It appears from Walsh's Sketches of Brazil that in the year 
1828, there were no less than 43,000 slaves received in the single 
port of Rio de Janeiro— and it is fairly presumable that an equal 
number were received at the Havanna and other P ort ;>— 
making, with those who died on board, at least 100,000 ravished 
from their native land in one year. If the wretches engaged in 
that nefarious traffic could find means of transporting 100,OUU hu- 
man beings in one year across the Atlantic, surely this powerful 
nation could, to accomplish the great objects in view, and to 
rescue itself by degrees from the odious stain of slavery, accomplisn 
the conveyance of 60, or even 100,000 to a land where they will 
be " lords of the soil." 60 or 70,000 persons have emigrated 
in one year from Great Britain and Ireland. 

It is asked how shall provision be made for such a number in 
Liberia? they will perish for want of sustenance. 

Can there exist any fear on this subject, when the soil ot LiDe- 
ria produces two regular crops a year, with the most imperieci 
culture ? Philad'a, April 26, 1832. 



L.ETTERS, &c. 



LETTER I. 

The Southampton Massacre.— Difference between the State 
of Slavery in Greece and Rome, and in the United States. 
— Various Plans of Colonization.— Objects of the Coloni- 
zation Society. 

TO THE HON. CHARLES FENTON MERCER. 

Dear Sir — . 

The tragical issue of the insurrection in Southampton, in which 
above sixty whites fell a sacrifice to the vengeance of their slaves, 
and subsequently to which a great number of slaves suffered the 
penalties of the violated laws of the state, has awakened the slave 
states out of their slumbers, and excited considerable attention 
towards our coloured population, and the awful consequences 
likely to ensue, sooner or later, from the admixture of two hete- 
rogeneous castes in the country, without the least probability, 
at any future period, however remote, of an amalgamation be- 
tween them, in consequence of the diversity of colour. 

In this respect our situation is widely different from that of 
Greece or Rome. The great mass of their slaves were of the 
same colour as their masters, and a complete amalgamation 
might take place in a generation or two. Against such a result 
there is in this country an insuperable barrier. 

This subject had occupied the attention of some of the wisest 
and best men of the country for above half a century. Several 
attempts were made in different provinces to prevent the im- 
portation of slaves, and acts were passed for the purpose, but 
they were uniformly rejected by the governors, under instructions 
from the British privy council — or by that council when the acts 
were transmitted for royal approbation. So early as 1772, the 
house of burgesses of Virginia unanimously agreed upon an address 
to the king of Great Britain, praying him " to remove those re- 
straints on the governors of the colony, which inhibited them from 
assenting to such laws as might check so very pernicious a com- 
merce." 

u The importation of slaves into the colonies, from the coasts of Africa, has 
long been considered as a trade of great inhumanity, and under its encourage- 
ment, we have too much reason to fear, will endanger the very existence 
of youu majesty's American dominions. 

"We are sensible that some of your majesty's subjects in Great Britain may 
reap emolument from this sort of traffic ; but when we consider that it greatly 
retards the settlement of the colonies icith more xohitc inhabitants, and may in 
time have the most destructive influence, we presume to hope that the interests of 

2 



( 6 ) 

a few will be disregarded, when placed in competition with the security and hap- 
piness of such numbers of your majesty's dutiful and loyal subjects." 

This and various other efforts were entirely fruitless — the trade 
remained unrestrained until the declaration of independence, 
when Virginia and some other states prohibited it altogether. 

Unfortunately the sound sentiments displayed by the burgesses 
of Virginia in 1772, were forgotten, or had lost their influence in 
1787, when the federal constitution was formed — for by that in- 
strument Congress was prohibited from passing laws to prevent 
the importation of slaves for twenty years. A courtly style was 
employed. It was not thought proper to introduce the word 
"slaves" — "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet" 

"The migration or importation of such persons as any of the states now exist- 
ing, shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the congress prior to 
the year 1808; but a tax or duty may be imposed on such importation, not ex- 
ceeding ten dollars for each person." 

In consequence of this unfortunate constitutional legitimation 
of the slave trade, it was carried on for twenty years on a large 
scale, and sowed a seed which has germinated with fatal ferti- 
lity, and threatens a heavy retribution. 

In the discussion of the best means of averting or at least of 
mitigating the evil to be dreaded from the existence among us of a 
class of people, who, although free, and therefore righteously en- 
titled to all the advantages and privileges of freemen, were never- 
theless, in a great degree, debarred from them by the inexorable 
force of public prejudice, and, in most of the states, were subject 
to rules and regulations and proscriptions, of the most oppressive 
and galling kind — in this discussion, I say, public opinion set- 
tled down in favour of an extensive system of colonization. 

On the subject of the location, there was not the same degree 
of unanimity. Some of our citizens were in favour of selecting 
a portion of the vacant territory of the United States, and setting 
it apart for the purpose. Others were, and some still are, for 
making an arrangement with the government of Mexico, and 
sending the class in question to Texas. Others, again, advocated 
a settlement on the western coast of Africa, as the natale solum 
of their ancestors, and as the climate is better suited to the great 
majority of the coloured people of this country. The last plan 
was finally adopted. 

The objects of the friends of colonization are — 

I. To rescue the free coloured people from the disqualifica- 
tions, the degradation, and the proscription to which they are 
exposed in the United States. 

II. To place them in a country where they may enjoy the be- 
nefits of free government, with all the blessings which it brings 
in its train. 

III. To avert the dangers of a dreadful collision at a future 
day of the two castes, which must inevitably be objects of mu- 
tual jealousy to each other. 



( 7 ) 

IV. To spread civilization, sound morals and religion through- 
out the vast continent of Africa, at present sunk in the lowest 
and most hideous state of barbarism. 

V. And though last, not least, to afford slave owners who are 
conscientiously scrupulousaboutholdinghuman beings in bondage, 
an asylum to which they may send their manumitted slaves. 

The last item has recently assumed a greatly increased impor- 
tance. Manumissions are prohibited in some of the slave states, 
unless the parties remove beyond their boundaries; and the en- 
trance of free negroes into others, is prohibited; so that manu- 
missions, without deportation, appear to be almost wholly at an end. 
It remains to be seen, in the sequel, from the results that have al- 
ready taken place, how far the benign purposes of the society are 
likely to be accomplished. 

With such noble objects in view, it is truly wonderful, that al- 
though the society has been i n existence for twelve years, the whole 
of the contributions public and private, (except the support by the 
government of the United States, of negroes captured from slave 
traders) received by the society for carrying them into effect, has 
been but about $165,000, little more than a cent per head for the 
population of the most prosperous nation in the world ; a nation, 
moreover, in which other objects, some of them of inferior useful- 
ness, are most liberally supported! this must have arisen from an 
impression entertained by many, that the scheme is absolutely 
impracticable. Hence many liberal individuals have wholly with- 
held their contributions. Of this opinion was the writer of these 
letters, at an early stage of the existence of the society. He re- 
garded it as one of the wildest projects ever conceived by en- 
lightened men ; and therefore, in 'the language of Sterne re- 
specting the Monk, he was " predetermined not to give them 
a single sous." Mature reflection has, however, convinced him 
of his error : he is now satisfied that the project is not more be- 
nignant and beneficent, than practicable, provided the general 
and state governments, and public spirited individuals yield it a 
support in any degree commensurate with its importance. 

In the hope of converting others, as he himself has been con- 
verted, he believes he may render an acceptable service to his 
country, by placing before the public, in plain, unadorned lan- 
guage, thp leading features of the case, under the following pro- 
minent heads. 

1. The origin of the society. 

2. The progress of the colony compared with that of Massa- 
chusetts, Virginia, and North Carolina. 

3. The increase of the coloured population, free and slaves. 

4. The declarations of legislatures and other public bodies in 
favour of the society. 

5. The manumission of slaves in this country. 

6. The situation and future prospects of the colonists at Mon- 
rovia, Caldwell, &c. 

7. Their moral and religious character. 



( 8 ) 

8. The soil, climate, productions, and commerce of Liberia. 

9. The disadvantages under which the free coloured popula- 
tion labour in this country, and those resulting to the white po- 
pulation from the existence of slavery. 

10. The character of the natives of Africa before the irruption 
of the barbarians. 

11. The salutary effects of the colony in repressing the slave 
trade, with a slight sketch of that nefarious traffic. 

This, you will say, is a wide field. I agree with you. How 
far I shall have succeeded in my attempt, must be decided when 
I reach the close of my labours, the " Finis." 

Yours, &c. M. C. 

Philadelphia, Jipril S, 1832. , 



LETTER II. 

Early plans of Colonization. — Mr. Jefferson's and Mr. Thorn- 
ton's. — Resolve of the Legislature of Virginia. — Ineffectual 
Negotiations. — Formation of the Colonization Society. 

Dear Sir — 

As early as the year 1777, Mr. Jefferson formed a plan for co- 
lonizing the free coloured population of the United States. The 
particulars I have not been able to obtain. There is reason to be- 
lieve, that he proposed the settlement in some of the western va- 
cant lands. Be that as it may, the project proved an abortion, 
owing partly to the distractions and difficulties of the war, and 
partly to the novelty and magnitude of the undertaking. How 
much to be deplored the result ! Had he succeeded, what a source 
of danger and disaster would have been dried up forever ! 

In the year 1787, Dr. Thornton, of Washington, formed apian 
for establishing a colony of that population on the western coast 
of Africa, and published an address to those residing in Massa- 
chusetts and Rhode Island, inviting them to accompany him. 
A sufficient number of them agreed to go, and were prepared for 
the expedition. But this project likewise failed for want of funds. 
The public mind was not then prepared for affording pecuniary 
support. About the year 1800 or 1801, the legislature of Vir- 
ginia, in secret session, instructed Mr. Monroe, then governor of 
the state, to apply to the president of the United States, and urge 
him to institute negotiations with some of the powers of Europe 
possessed of colonies on the coast of Africa, to grant an asylum 
to which our emancipated negroes might be sent. Mr. Jefferson 
opened a negotiation with the Sierra Leone Company, for the 
purpose, but without success. He subsequently applied to the 
government of Portugal, and equally failed. The project was 
then abandoned as hopeless. 

In the session of the legislature of Virginia, in 1816, the subject 



( 9 ) 

was again brought forward, and the following resolution was 
adopted by a large majority. 

" Whereas the General Assembly of Virginia have repeatedly sought to obtain 
an asylum, beyond the limits of the United States, for such persons of colour as 
had been or might be emancipated under the laws of this Commonwealth, but 
have hitherto found all their efforts frustrated, either by the disturbed state of 
other nations, or domestic causes equally unpropitious to its success: 

" They now avail themselves of a period when peace has healed the wounds of 
humanity, and the principal nations of Europe have concurred with the govern- 
ment of the United States, in abolishing the African Slave Trade (a traffic which 
this Commonwealth, both before and since the revolution, zealously sought to 
exterminate,) to renew this effort, and do therefore, — 

" Resolve. That the executive be requested to correspond with the President 
of the United States, for the purpose of obtaining a territory on the coast of 
Africa, or at some other place, not within any of the states or territorial 
governments of the United States, to serve as an asylum for such persons of 
colour as are now free, and may desire the same, and for those who may here- 
after be emancipated within this Commonwealth; and that the Senators and 
Representatives of this state in the Congress of the United States, be requested 
to exert their best efforts to aid the President of the United States in the attain- 
ment of the above objects. 

" Provided, That no contract or arrangement respecting such territory shall 
be obligatory on this Commonwealth, until ratified by the legislature." 

It thus appears that the scheme of colonization which is now 
violently denounced in some of the southern papers, as a con- 
spiracy against the rights and property of the slave holders, and 
forms one of the means whereby the dangerous effervescence in 
South Carolina has been excited, originated with the great lead- 
ing slave state, which possesses more than a third of all the slaves 
in the five original slave states. 

At length the time arrived when the country was ripe for the 
establishment of the society. In December, 1816, a considerable 
number of citizens, very nearly all slave holders, met at Washing- 
ton, to take the subject into consideration. Bushrod Washington 
presided. Long debates ensued. Henry Clay, John Randolph, 
of Roanoke, and various other powerful orators, addressed the 
meeting in support of the plan. Mr. Randolph observed, that 

" If a place could be provided for their reception, and a mode of sending them 
hence, there were hundreds, nay, thousands, who would, by manumitting their 
slaves, relieve themselves from the cares attendant on their possession!" 

At this meeting, a letter from Mr. Jefferson, dated in 1811, 
was read, in which, having mentioned his negotiations with the 
Sierra Leone Company and Portugal, he adds — 

" Indeed nothing is more to be wished, than that the United States would them- 
selves undertake to make such an establishment on the coast of Africa."* 

A constitution was formed; Bushrod Washington was appoint- 
ed president, and Messrs. Crawford, Clay, Rutgers, Howard, &c. 
vice presidents. An eloquent memorial to Congress was drawn 
up, which Mr. Randolph undertook to present to that body. 

Yours, &c. M. C. 
Philadelphia, Jijjril 10, 1832. 

* African Repository, vol. VI. page 199. 



( io ) 

LETTER III. 

Agents sent to Africa to explore the coast for a suitable situ- 
ation. — Land purchased. — Conflict with the natives. — 
Agent seized by them. — Monrovia besieged. — In imminent 
danger. — Colonists triumph. — Peace. 

Dear Sir — 

In November, 1819, the Society appointed two agents, the 
Rev. S. J. Mills and Mr. Ebenezer Burgess, to proceed to the 
coast of Africa, via England, to make the necessary explorations 
and inquiries as to a suitable location for a settlement. The ob- 
ject of landing in England, was to procure letters to the leading 
men at Sierra Leone, and also to gain such general information 
respecting the coast of Africa as might be attainable. They suc- 
ceeded in both objects, and procured, moreover, recommenda- 
tions from the Court of Copenhagen, to its colonial authorities on 
the coast. They sailed from the Downs on the 7th of February, 
1820, and arrived at Sierra Leone early in March. They visited 
all the ports from Sierra Leone to Sherbro. At this last place 
they found a small colony of coloured people settled by John 
Kizel, a South Carolina slave, who had joined the British in the 
revolutionary war, and at its close was taken to Nova Scotia, from 
whence he sailed with a number of his countrymen to Africa, 
where he established this small settlement, which was, at the 
arrival of the agents, in a prosperous situation. By Kizel and 
his people, the agents were kindly and hospitably received. 
After gaining all the imformation necessary for their purpose, 
they sailed from the coast in May, and arrived in the United 
States in the following month. Mr. Mills died on the passage. 

The slave trade having been abolished by Congress, and the 
American vessels of war being authorized to capture all vessels 
engaged in it, under the American flag, one of them was taken, 
and the liberated Africans were brought to this country, landed 
in Georgia, and were about to be sold by virtue of an act of that 
state. A clause in the act directed the constituted authorities 
to deliver such slaves up to the Colonization Society, on pay- 
ment of all expenses incurred since their capture and condemna- 
tion. With this condition the society complied, and received 
the slaves, about thirty in number. 

To guard against a recurrence of a similar state of things, Con- 
gress, on the 3d of March, 1819, passed an act authorisingthe 
President " to make such rules and regulations as he might 
deem expedient for the safe keeping, support, and removal of 
slaves captured in vessels engaged in the slave trade; and to 
appoint a proper person or persons, as agent or agents on the 
coast of Africa for receiving them." 

It was obvious that the objects of the government could be 
better accomplished in conjunction with the Colonization Society, 



( 11 ) 

than separately. Accordingly, in the year 1820, the Elizabeth was 
chartered, and took out to the coast two agentsof the government, 
one from the society, and about eighty emigrants. The latter were 
to be employed at the expense of the government, in preparing 
accommodations for the reception of recaptured negroes. 

They were in the outset extremely unfortunate. They found 
it impossible to obtain a suitable place, and " were compelled, 
by a variety of untoward circumstances, to make a temporary 
establishment in the low, unhealthy island of Sherbro." Here 
they were detained some time endeavouring to purchase land — 
and were attacked by fatal diseases, which carried off the three 
agents, and twenty of the colonists. 

The colony was in a lamentable state in the spring of 1821. 
Great confusion and want of subordination prevailed, in conse- 
quence of the death of the agents. At that time four new ones 
arrived, Messrs. Andrews, Wiltberger, Winn, and Bacon; the 
two first on the part of the society, and the others on that of 
the United States. They brought out twenty-eight emigrants — 
and from the difficulties that had occurred in procuring land, 
they proceeded with the old and new hands to the neighbourhood 
of Freetown, in the colony of Sierra Leone. One of the agents, 
Mr. Bacon, being taken sick, returned to the United States. Mr. 
Andrews died in August, and Mr. Winn in September. 

This was a most appalling state of things, and would have dis- 
couraged ordinary men from a prosecution of the scheme. For- 
tunately, such timid counsels did not prevail. The society de- 
termined to persevere, trusting that more experience, and the 
choice of a more salubrious situation would guard against a re- 
petition of those disasters. 

A new agent, Dr. Ayres, was appointed, who, with lieutenant 
Stockton, on the part of the United States, sailed in November, 
1821, and arrived on the coast of Africa in December. On a 
careful examination of the coast, they purchased the country call- 
ed Montserado, where the colony is now settled. The price 
agreed upon, was three hundred dollars, payable in powder and 
ball, fire arms, tobacco, clothing, &c. 

The Africans who had been landed at Sierra Leone, were now 
sent for, and affairs wore a promising aspect, when an untoward 
circumstance occurred, which threatened a total failure of the 
scheme. 

A small slave vessel, prize to an English schooner, with thirty 
recaptured slaves on board, and bound for Sierra Leone, put in for 
water at Perseverance Island, part of the purchased territory, 
where the colonists were stationed. Having unfortunately parted 
her cable, she drifted on shore, where she was wrecked. The cus- 
tom of the coast appropriates to the petty chief on whose lands a 
wreck takes place, the vessel and her entire contents. King 
George, on whose territory the accident happened, sent his people 
to take possession. They were resisted by the captain and crew, 
and were discomfited. While the natives were preparing to renew 



( 12 ) 

the attack, the captain sent to the agent for assistance, which was 
readily granted. A boat was instantly manned, and sent to his 
relief, and a brass field piece on the island brought to bear on the 
assailants, who were accordingly put to the rout, with the loss of 
two killed and several wounded. The crew and slaves were 
brought in safety to land, but the vessel went to pieces, and most 
of the stores and property was lost. 

This exasperated the natives, not merely by the loss of their 
prey and their men, but by the prospect it held out of similar in- 
terferences in future. They anticipated the total interruption of 
the slave trade, which was their principal dependence for pro- 
curing supplies of whatever they might want. They, therefore, 
determined to extirpate the colony, while in its feeble and de- 
fenceless state. 

Only part of the goods had been delivered, and the natives re- 
fused to take the remainder, and insisted on returning what they 
had received. This, of course, the agent refused, and they had 
recourse to a stratagem to accomplish their purpose. They in- 
vited him to an amicable conference, and as soon as they had him 
in their power, made him a prisoner, and detained him until he 
consented to take the articles back. Then they insisted on the 
colonists withdrawing from the settlement altogether. Pleading 
the difficulty of removal, for want of a place to which to retire, 
he was permitted to remain till he could make a purchase of land. 
Meanwhile he made an appeal to Boatswain, one of the native 
kings, who enjoyed a sort of supremacy among them, and who, 
on hearing the respective allegations, gave an award in favour of 
the colonists, that the bargain had been fair on both sides; that 
there was no ground for rescinding it; and therefore, that the 
natives should receive the stipulated goods, and relinquish the 
purchased territory. With this judgment his perfidious regal 
brethren were forced to comply, as he threatened them with his 
vengeance if they proved refractory. 

They brooded over the discomfiture in the field and before the 
arbiter, and determined, on his departure to his own station, to 
make a decisive attempt to extirpate the colony. The colonists 
had information of their preparations, and made every exertion to 
be enabled to meet them. But their number was small, having 
but 35 effective men : their defences were incomplete; they had 
but few cannon, and the agent, the Rev. Mr. Ashmun,a man of 
extraordinary zeal, ardour, and energy, was dangerously ill ; but 
had, nevertheless, to give all the necessary orders, some of them 
dictated from his bed, as he had no adequate substitute. 

The enemy consisted of a body of eight hundred men, and 
made a most furious attack on the 8th of November, 1822. Un- 
fortunately one pass was neglected to be properly defended, and 
there the enemy forced an entrance, and captured one of the guns, 
which happily they knew not how to manage. The colony was 
saved by their want of discipline. Had they pushed forward, their 
success was certain; the colonists could not have resisted; but 



( 13 ) 

the assailants betook themselves to plunder, in great confusion : this 
afforded the colonists time to rally; they recaptured the gun; and 
turned it on the enemy, who were wedged in a solid mass. Great 
destruction took place, and they fled in utter confusion ; it was sup- 
posed they had 60 or 80 killed. The loss on the other side was 
considerable, three men and one woman killed, two men and two 
women severely wounded, and seven children captured. 

The colonists, as soon as the enemy had disappeared, immedi- 
ately began to complete their defences, and prepare for another 
attack, which they understood from their spies, was to be made 
>with a greater force at the close of the month. The attack ac- 
cordingly commenced on the 30th, with 1,500 assailants. The 
fortifications were in a far better state than before, but the number 
of effective men less, not quite 30. The besiegers were, after a 
long and ardent struggle, finally defeated, with severe loss. The 
garrison had one man killed, and two badly wounded. Mr. Ash- 
mun's services were invaluable, and were the means of saving the 
place. 

His Britannic Majesty's schooner, Driver, fortunately arrived in 
the harbour at this time, and the commander kindly offered his ser- 
vices as mediator, which were gladly accepted by both parties, as 
they were equally tired of " the unprofitable contest." The na- 
tive princes signed an engagement " to ohserve an unlimited truce 
with the colony, and submit all their differences to the arbitration 
of the governor of Sierra Leone." 

Since that period the colonists have not been molested. They 
are objects of respect and veneration, and their friendship is sought 
after by all the petty kings in their neighbourhood. 

A regular form of government was adopted in 1824, which pro- 
duced the happiest effects on the morals and manners of the Colo- 
nists. In truth, this period may be stated as almost the commence- 
ment of the establishment — the four preceding years having been 
the reign of anarchy and confusion. Yours, &c, M. C. 

Philadelphia, April 12, 1832. 

LETTER IV. 

Increase of the Coloured Pojmlation. 
Dear Sir — 

The dangers arising from the great increase of a caste in the na- 
tion, who are by custom cut off from all chance of amalgamation 
with their fellow-beings of a different colour, are yearly augment- 
ing by the natural horror of slavery, which is corlstantiy gaining 
strength in the breasts of the slaves; by the unceasing discussions in 
our papers, especially by those that recently took place in the legis- 
lature of Virginia; and by the inflammatory publications, which are 
clandestinely spread among the slaves, in spite of the vigilance and 
denunciations of their masters. Circumstances, too, are occasion- 
ally occurring which tend to fan the flame; among which may be 
reckoned the general manumission of the slaves in the royal co- 

3 



( H ) 



Ionies of Great Britain, and the steady and persevering efforts 
making in and out of parliament in that kingdom, to procure a 
total emancipation in all the British colonies. 

In the discussion of this subject, it is only necessary to cast a 
furtive glance at the scenes in St. Domingo, and the various insur- 
rections planned and attempted in this country, to be satisfied that 
the subject has not hitherto attracted that consideration in gene- 
ral, to which it is entitled by its great magnitude and importance. 
Although there is, 1 hope and trust, no great danger of such in- 
surrectionary attempts proving successful, yet they may, and in 
all probability will, produce repetitions of the horrible scenes which 
took place at Southampton, at which humanity shudders. 

On this view of the subject, it could scarcely have been antici- 
pated, that the scheme proposed by the Colonization Society, of 
removing such of the free people of colour as are disposed to emi- 
grate to the land of their fathers, and such slaves as are emanci- 
pated, on condition of removal to that land, should have met with 
any opposition. It is, nevertheless, certain, that it has been vio- 
lently opposed in two quarters where it might have rationally been 
supposed likely to meet with most favour, in South Carolina, and 
among some of the free blacks. 

We shall, in the sequel, consider the opposition of the free 
blacks. At present we shall confine ourselves to the case of South 
Carolina. That state is by far more particularly interested in the 
success of the scheme than any other, except, perhaps, Louisiana; 
as these are the only two states in which the slave population ex- 
ceeds that of the whites. 



Population of South Carolina. 
In 1790 
1830 



Whites Shoes. 

I 130,178 107,094 
I 257,878 315,565 

Thus it appears that while the slaves very nearly trebled their 
numbers, the whites did not quite double theirs. 

The relative situation of the white and coloured population east 
of the Blue Ridge, in Virginia, places this subject in a striking- 
point of view. It appears that the latter have gained on the 
former in forty years, 106,176, being more than a fourth part of 
the number of whites at present in that part of the country. To 
render this case more remarkable, it is to be observed, that during 
this period, the shipment of slaves from that portion of Virginia to 
the more southern states, has been carried to an enormous extent. 



Total. 



Majority. 



Population east of the Blue Ridge. 


Whites. 


Blacks. 


Whites. 


Blacks. 


In 179P 


314,523 


289,425 


25,098 




1800 


336,289 


339,293 




3,004 


1810 


338,553 


386,942 




48,389 


1820 


348,873 


413,928 




65,055 


1830 


375,935 


457,013 




81,078 



The following table exhibits the increase of the free coloured 

people in the United States from the year 1790 to the present time. 

In 1790 I 59,481 I in 1810 I 186,446 I In 1830 | 319,467 

1800 | 110,073 1820 | 233,530 



( 15 ) 

A multiplication nearly six fold in forty years, and above 33 per 
•cent, in the last ten years. 

The disparity of increase of the white and coloured population 
in the five original slave states, deserves attention. 



1790. 



1830. 



Whites. 


Slaves. 


Whites. 


Slaves. 


208,650 
442,127 
288,204 
130,178 
52,886 


103,036 

292,627 

100,572 

107,094 

29,264 


291,093 
694,439 
472,433 
257,878 
296,614 


102,878 
469,724 
246,462 
315,665 
217,407 


1,122,045 


632,593 


2,012,457 


1,352,136 



Maryland, 
Virginia, 
North Carolina, 
South Carolina, 
Georgia, 



It thus appears, that the whites, in forty years, increased only 
about eighty per cent; while the slaves increased one hundred and 
twelve. In North Carolina, the whites increased but sixty-four 
per cent.; while the slaves increased one hundred and forty-five. 
The number of slaves in Maryland has slightly decreased, partly 
by manumissions, and partly by the shipment of slaves to the more 
southern states, both of which have taken place in that state on a 
large scale. The free coloured population in 1790, was only 8,042, 
whereas, in 1830, it was 52,942. 

Table of the number of coloured people, free and slaves, in the 
United States, at the various periods of taking the census, together 
with a statement of the numbers that will be in the country every 
decennial census, till 1880, at the rate of increase that took place 
between 1820 and 1830, viz., at 35 per cent. 



1790 - - - 


757,178 


1840 - - - 


3,145,552 


1800 - - - 


1,006,912 


1850 - - - 


4,246,495 


1810 - - - 


1,377,780 


1860 - - - 


5,732,768 


1820 - - - 


1,771,658 


1870 - - - 


7,739,236 


1830 - - - 


2,330,039 


1880 - - - 


10,447,968 



What fearful presages arise in the mind, when we consider that 
in 1880, at the present rate of increase, the population of the U. 
S., then above 54,000,000, will embrace more than 10,000,000 of 
a distinct race, between whom and the majority, cordiality can 
scarcely be expected! What an admonitory lesson in favour of 
colonization! Yours, &c, M. C. 

Philadelphia, April 14, 1832. 



LETTER V. 

Expense of Passage. — Manumissions. 
Dear Sir — 

It remains to ascertain as nearly as possible the expense of emi- 
gration. 

The passage is at present calculated at about twenty dollars, 
and the expense for the maintenance of each emigrant for six 
months at about 15 dollars; making, all together, 35 dollars. 



( 16 ) 

But children from two to twelve years of age are taken at half 
price, and below two years free of charge; allowing for a due 
proportion of children, thirty dollars will be a tolerably fair esti- 
mate for passage and support. 

Moreover, when the situation of the colony becomes better 
known, and the prejudices which have been industriously created 
against it are done away, many emigrants will defray their own 
expenses, and many humane and charitable masters will, as has 
taken place already, pay the passage of their manumitted slaves. 
Again. For a long time to come there will be, as there is at 
present, a great demand in the colony for labourers, and able-bodied 
men will, immediately on landing, be able to procure employment. 
In a late report it is stated, that of the whole number of emigrants 
that arrived in one vessel, only seven were unemployed in twenty 
days. Considering all these circumstances, we might be autho- 
rised to assume an average of twenty dollars for each; but if we 
err at all, it is better to err on the safe side, and assume twenty- 
five. 

It appears that the annual increase is a little above 2h per cent. 
In the former edition we erroneously assumed 3^. 

Two and a half per cent, on the present number of coloured peo- 
ple in the United States, probably 2,400,000, amounts to 60,000 
annually. Supposing the object to be, the prevention of any in- 
crease, and that therefore provision would have to be made for the 
conveyance of 60,000 annually, at 25 dollars each, the expense 
would be 81,500,000. 

This sum is large, and would require considerable sacrifices. 
But was any grand object ever attained without great sacrifices'? 
We were, when in a comparatively feeble state, able to raise 
$100,000,000 in a year and a half for the support of a war. Our 
revenue has been, for years, from 20, to $25,000,000, and the na- 
tional debt is nearly paid off. The direct tax of the state of Penn- 
sylvania in the year 1815 was $730,958, and that of Virginia 
$738,036, which were paid without any oppression of the citizens 
of either. And surely if reason and common sense have fair play, 
it will not be difficult to procure an amendment of the constitution 
(if such an amendment be necessary, which is doubted by many 
of our citizens) by three-fourths of the states, allowing the ap- 
propriation of a sum necessary for the purpose; and never did a 
nation make a more useful appropriation. 

There are thirteen non-slaveholding States. There can be no 
doubt that these would ratify such an amendment; and from the 
prevalence of the conviction in Maryland, Virginia, and North 
Carolina, of the dangers that menace the country from this source, 
their immediate concurrence might be calculated on; and the con- 
sent of two more would probably be had in a year or two, as the 
subject came to be more fully discussed, and of consequence better 
understood. 

Among the most promising and encouraging circumstances at- 
tending the career of this society, are the numerous manumissions 



( 17 ) 

that have taken place in almost all the slave states, on the express 
condition of the freed people being sent to Liberia. 

These manumissions have occurred on a scale that the most san- 
guine friends of the scheme could not have anticipated. Entire 
families have been blest with their freedom, from the most- pure 
motives, a conviction of the immorality and injustice of slavery: — • 
and in many cases ample provision has been made for the expense 
of their passage, and in some for their support in Liberia. They 
have been thus released from the debasement and degradation of 
slavery, and sent to the land of their fathers, to partake of all the 
happiness that freedom and the certainty of enjoying all the fruits 
of their labour, can inspire. 

In this work of benevolence, the society of Friends, as in so 
many other cases, have nobly distinguished themselves, and as- 
sumed a prominent attitude. They have, in North Carolina, li- 
berated no less than 652 slaves, whom they had under their care, 
besides, as says my authority, an unknown number of children, 
husbands and wives, connected with them by consanguinity. 
In the performance of these acts of benevolence, they expended 
$12,759. They had remaining under their care, in Dec. 1830, 
402 slaves, for whom the same arrangements were to be made. 

It holds out every encouragement to the Colonization Society, 
that the applications for the transportation of free negroes, and 
slaves proposed to be emancipated on condition of removal to Li- 
beria, far exceed its means. There are in North Carolina and the 
adjacent states, from three to four thousand of both descriptions, 
ready to embark, were the Society in a situation to send them 
away. 

Yours, &c, M. C. 
Philadelphia, Jlpril 14, 1832. 



LETTER VI. 



Progress of Liberia. — Inauspicious commencement in Massa- 
chusetts, Virginia, and North Carolina. 
Dear Sir — 

A brief comparison of the progress made in Liberia, with the 
colonization of Massachusetts, Virginia and North Carolina, will 
place the first on high ground, and dispel the doubts of the most 
sceptical as to the ultimate success of this magnificent and benig- 
nant undertaking, if it receive a due degree of support. Let it be 
observed, that the society never made any calculation on being able 
to accomplish the mighty object of their enterprise by private re- 
sources alone. That would have been extravagant folly. The 
success must, they well knew, ultimately depend on the patron- 
age of the general and state governments, united; the attainment 
of which they confidently hope for. The society has done its duty 
in proving the practicability of the scheme, and will steadily con- 



( 18 ) 

tinue its exertions on a scale proportioned to the means placed at 
its disposal. Further than this it never promised. 

The first expedition to Liberia took place in 1820, but the colo- 
nists met with so many difficulties and embarrassments at the com- 
mencement, that it was not until the year 1824, that order or good 
government was established. All that has been accomplished 
worth notice has taken place within the last eight years. What, 
then, is the state of the case? 

There are now above 2000 souls, settled, contented, happy and 
prosperous; enjoying all the apparatus of a regular government; 
an improving agriculture; a prosperous and increasing commerce; 
settlements rapidly extending; a large territory, possessed of extra- 
ordinary advantages of soil, climate, and situation for commerce, 
fairly and honourably purchased, one hundred and fifty miles on 
the coast, and extending into the interior of the country thirty or 
forty miles; several slave factories destroyed, and the slaves libe- 
rated; the slave trade abolished in the neighbourhood of the settle- 
ment; the circumjacent aboriginals tranquilized, regarding the set- 
tlers with reverence, and looking up to them for protection from 
the ferocious violence of those hostes humani generis, the slave 
traders; the attacks of some hostile petty kings repelled in 1822, in 
the very infancy of "the colony, and in its most feeble state; educa- 
tion carefully attended to; the children of the natives sent in for in- 
struction to the schools of the colonists; morals and religion flourish- 
ing. In a word, the most sanguine expectations of the founders of 
the colony more than realized, at this very early stage of its exist- 
ence. It may be doubted whether any colony ever throve more 
completely in so short a space of time. 

One feature in this colony most honourably distinguishes it 
from almost every other colony established in ancient or modern 
times. Of all other colonies the founders were impelled by a desire 
of conquest; a thirst of aggrandizement, or of the acquisition of 
wealth. With no such views were the founders of Liberia actu- 
ated. Benevolence alone inspired the illustrious men, the Finleys, 
the Thorntons, the Meades, the Washingtons, the Mercers, the Ash- 
muns, the Caldwells, the Keys, who projected or aided in forming 
the society. The benefit of the colonists and the peace and hap- 
piness of this country were the objects. For their attainment they 
devoted their time, and their substance, and endured the scoffs and 
ridicule and scorn to' which their grand enterprise, in common 
with all great novel undertakings, was subjected. 

Let us now cast an eye on the early results of the attempts at 
the colonization of Massachusetts, Virginia and North Carolina. 

The pdgrims who commenced the settlement of Massachusetts, 
landed in ^December, 1620, to the number of 120; and so ill were 
they provided with provisions and clothing, and so inclement was 
the season, that about fifty of them perished in the course of the 
winter and the ensuing spring.* And though they received fre- 

* Marshall's Life of Washington, Vol. I. page 94. 



( 19 ) 

quent reinforcements, there remained but three hundred in the 
year 1630, one half of the whole number having perished in \he 
severe winter of 1629.* 

What a striking contrast Liberia exhibits! How exhilarating 
and encouraging to its friends, and how useful a lesson does it hold 
out to its enemies! 

But inauspicious as the incipient operations were in Massachu- 
setts, the result was far worse for 25 years in Virginia. The first 
attempt at a settlement took place in 1585, and was succeeded for 
years by several numerous reinforcements, which in a great mea- 
sure fell victims to their own irregularities, or to the hostile attacks 
of the Indians, whom those irregularities provoked. In 1610, the 
heroic Smith, the father of the colony, brought out a strong rein- 
forcement, and returned home for further supplies of men, provi- 
sions, arms and ammunition, leaving the colony, as he supposed, se- 
cure against any contingency, however adverse, whether from the 
severity of the weather, or the assaults of the Indians. But all his 
calculations were miserably defeated by the worthlessness, the in- 
subordination, and the licentiousness of the colonists. 

" Smith left the colony furnished with three ships, good fortifications, twenty- 
five pieces of cannon, arms, ammunition, apparel, commodities for trading, and tools 
for all kinds of labour. At James Town there were nearly sixty houses. The set- 
tlers had begun to plant and to fortify at five or six other places. The number of 
inhabitants was nearlv five hundred.— They had just gathered in their Indian har- 
vest, and besides, had considerable provision in their stores. They had between 
five and six hundred hogs, an equal number of fowls, some goats and some sheep. 
They had also boats, nets, and good accommodations for fishing. But such was the 
sedition, idleness, and dissipation of this mad people, that they were soon reduced 
to the most miserable circumstances. No sooner was Capt. Smith gone, than the 
savages, provoked by their dissolute practices, and encouraged by their want of 
government, revolted, hunted and slew them from place to place. Nansemond, the 
plantation at the falls, and all the out-settlements, were abandoned. In a short time, 
nearly forty of the company were cut off by the enemy. Then- time and provisions 
were consumed in riot; their utensils were stolen or destroyed; their hogs, sheep, 
and fowls killed and carried off by the Indians. The sword without, famine and 
sickness within, soon made among them surprising destruction. Within die term 
of six months, of their whole number, sixty only survived. These were the most 
poor, famishing wretches, subsisting chiefly on herbs, acorns, and berries. Such 
was the famine, that thev fed on the skins of their dead horses : nay, they boiled 
and ate the flesh of the dead. Indeed they were reduced to such extremity, that 
had they not been relieved, the whole colony in eight or ten days would have been 
extinct. Such are the dire effects of idleness, faction, and want of proper subordi- 
nation. "\ 

All the difficulties and disasters that have occurred in Liberia,, 
from the commencement of the settlement till the present time, 
fall far short of the tithe of the calamities in Virginia in six 
months. 

We have not as many details of the disasters in North Carolina. 
Williamson, its historian, is very brief on the subject; but he tells 
enough to prove that similar disorders and similar disasters took 
place there. The colony was commenced in 1668, and in 1694, 
" the list of taxables was only 787, being little more than half the 
number that were there in 1677," seventeen years before. " Such," 

* Idem, page 102. f Holmes's Annals, Vol. I. page 60. 



( 20 ) 

says the writer, " were the baneful effects of rapine, anarchy and 
idleness."* Yours, &c. M. C. 

Philadelphia, April IS, 1832. 

LETTER VII. 

Legislative proceedings in favour of the Society. — Connecticut, 
Neiv Jersey, Kentucky, Delaware, Massachusetts, Tennessee, 
Indiana, Pennsylvania, and Maryland. — Synod of Utica. — 
General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church — Methodist 
Episcopal Conference. 

Dear Sir — 

The Colonization Society has, by perseverance and by the in- 
trinsic merit of its views, at length " won golden opinions " from 
the greater part of the nation. The legislatures of fourteen states, 
New-Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, New- York, New-Jersey, 
Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Georgia, Tennessee, 
Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana, have passed resolutions distinctly re- 
commending the scheme of colonizing the free coloured population, 
and most of them approving of the objects of the Society. Eleven 
of those states have instructed their senators, and requested their 
representatives in Congress, to promote in the general government, 
measures for removing such free persons of colour as are desirous- 
of emigrating to Africa. And " nearly all the ecclesiastical bodies 
in the United States have, by resolutions, fully expressed their opi- 
nion, that the Society merits the consideration and favour of the 
whole Christian community, and earnestly recommended it to their 
patronage." I annex a few specimens: 

Resolve of the Legislature of Connecticut, 1S24. 

" Resolved, That the existence of Slavery in the United States is a great national 
evil, and that the people and the States ought to participate in the burdens and du- 
ties of removing it by all just and prudent measures, which may be adopted with a 
due regard to their internal peace and mutual harmony: and that a system of co- 
lonization under the patronage of the General Government, may reasonably be 
deemed conducive to so desirable an object." 

Resolve of the Legislature of New Jersey, 1825. 

"Resolved, That in the opinion of this Legislature, a system of Foreign Coloni- 
zation, with correspondent measures, might be adopted, that would in due time, 
effect the entire emancipation of slaves in this country, and furnish an asylum for 
the free blacks, without any violation of the National Compact, or infringement of 
the rights of individuals; and that such a system should be predicated upon the 
principle, that the evil of slavery is a national one, and that the People and the States 
of this union ought, mutually, to participate in the duties and burdens of removing 
it." 

Resolve of the Legislature of Kentucky, 1S27. 

"Resolved by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, That 
they view with deep and friendly interest, the exertions of the American Coloni- 
zation Society, in establishing an asylum on the coast of Africa, for the free people 
of colour of the United States; and that the Senators and Representatives in Congress, 
from this state, be and they are hereby requested, to use their efforts to facilitate 

* Williamson's History of North Carolina, Vol. I. page 144. 



( 21 ) 

the removal of such free persons of colour as may desire to emigrate from the United 
States to the colony in Africa, and to insure to them the protection and patronage of 
the General Government, so far as shall be deemed consistent with the safety and 
interest of the United States." 

Of the Legislature of Delaware. 

" Resolved, By the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Delaware, 
in General Assembly met, That it is requisite for our prosperity, and, what is of 
more important concern, essential to our safety, that measures should be taken, for 
the removal from this country, of the free negroes and mulattoes. 

" Resolved, That this General Assembly approve the objects of the American 
Colonization Society, and consider that those objects deserve public support, and 
that they ought to be fostered and encouraged by the National Government, and 
witli the National funds. " 

Resolution of the Senate of Pennsylvania, 1829. 
"Be it resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of Pennsylvania, in 
General Assembly met, That in the opinion of this general assembly, the American 
Colonization Society eminently demands the support of the national government, 
and that our Senators be directed, and the Representatives in Congress be requested 
to aid the same by all proper and constitutional means." 

Resolution of the Legislature of Maryland, 1829 
"Resolved unanimously, That the governor be requested to communicate to 
the President of the United States, and to our Senators and Representatives in Con- 
gress, the opinion of the general assembly, that a wise and provident policy suggests 
the expediency, on the part of our national government, of procuring through ne- 
gociation, by cession or purchase, a tract of country on the western coast of Africa, 
for the colonization of the free people of colour of the United States." 

Resolution of the State of Tennessee. 
"Resolved, by the General Assembly of the State of Tennessee, That the Senators 
in Congress from this State, be, and they are hereby requested and instructed ; and 
that the Representatives be, and they are hereby requested, to give to the govern- 
ment of the United States any aid in their power, in devising and carrying into ef- 
fect a plan which may have for its object the colonizing, in some distant country, 
the free people of colour who are within the limits of the United States, or within 
the limits of any of their Territories." 

Resolution of the Stale of Indiana, 1829. 
"Be it resolved by the General Assembly of the State of Indiana, That our Sen- 
ators and Representatives in Congress be, and they are hereby requested, in the 
name of the State of Indiana, to solicit the assistance of the general government to 
aid the laudable designs of the Colonization Society, in such manner as Congress in 
its wisdom may deem expedient." 

Resolution of the Senate of Massachusetts in 1830. 
" Resolved, That our Senators and Representatives in Congress, be, and they are 
hereby requested, in the name of the State of Massachusetts, to solicit the assist- 
ance of the general government, to aid the laudable designs of the Colonization 
Society, in such manner as Congress in its wisdom may deem expedient." 

Resolution of the Synod of Utica, JV. Y. 1829. 
"Resolved, That all clergymen within the bounds of this Synod, be, and they 
hereby are most earnestly requested to take up collections and subscriptions yearly, 
on or near the fourth of July, as a proper mode of aiding the funds of the Coloni- 
zation Society ; and that as far as practicable, they enable then- people to understand 
the history, design, progress and prospects of the Society." 

Resolution of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, 1830. 
"Resolved, That it be recommended to all the churches under the care of the ge- 
neral assembly, to take up collections for the Colonization Society, on the next 4th 
of July." 

4 



( 22 ) 

Resolution of the Philadelphia Conference of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, 1831. 
" Resolved, That the Conference highly approving- of the plan and purposes of 
the American Colonization Society, do recommend that collections be taken up 
throughout the churches within our bounds, so far as is practicable, on the 4th of 
July next, iii aid of the funds of the above Society." 



LETTER VIII. 

Situation of the Colonists in Liberia. — Testimony of a Com- 
mittee in Monrovia. — Of Captain Nicholson — Of Captain 
Kennedy — Of Captain Sherman — Of Captain Abels. — Mo- 
rals and Manners. 4 

Dear Sir — 

The subject discussed in this letter is of paramount importance. 
Whatever considerations of policy in regard to this country, 
might plead in favour of the scheme of colonization, it would not 
have the sanction of the friends of mankind, of those who com- 
miserate the depressed condition of the coloured population of the 
United States, if the situation of the emigrants were not mani- 
festly improved. To place this vital point on a basis as firm as 
the rock of Gibraltar, I have collected what may be regarded as 
a superfluity of testimony; as that of any one of the parties would 
he sufficient to remove all doubts from the minds of all persons 
open to conviction. But it seemed right in such a case, " to make 
assurance doubly sure." 

In a Circular forwarded by a Committee of the inhabitants of 
Monrovia, to their brethren in the United States, they give the 
following description of their situation: 

" The first consideration which caused our voluntary removal to tliis country, 
and the object wc regard with the deepest concern, was liberty — liberty in the so- 
ber, simple, but complete sense of the word — not a licentious liberty — nor a liberty 
without government, or which should place us without the restraint of salutary laws 
— but that liberty of speech, action and conscience, which distinguishes the free 
enfranchised citizens of a free state. We did not enjoy that freedom in our native 
country; and from causes, which, as regards ourselves, we shall soon forget for 
ever, we were certain, it was not there attainable for our children or ourselves. * * 
We truly declare, that our expectations and hopes, in this respect, have been realized. 

" Our constitution secures to us, so far as our condition allows, all the rights and 
privileges enjoyed by the citizens of the United States; and these rights and these 
privileges are ours: We are proprietors of the soil wc live on, and possess the 
rights of freeholders. Our suffrages, and, what is of more importance, our senti- 
ments and opinions, have their due weight in the government we live under. Our 
laws are altogether our own; they grow out of our circumstances, are framed for 
our exclusive benefit, and administered either by officers of our own appointment, 
or such as possess our confidence. We have a judiciary, chosen among- ourselves: 
we serve as jurors on the trial of others, and are liable ourselves to be tried only 
by juries of our fellow-citizens. We have all that is meant by liberty of conscience. 
The time and mode of worshipping God, as prescribed to us in his word, and dic- 
tated by our conscience, we are not only free to follow, but are protected in fol- 
lowing. 

"Forming a community of our own in the land of our forefathers, having the 
commerce, and soil, and resources of the country at our disposal; we know nothing 
of that debasing inferiority with which our very colour stamped us in America; 



( 23 ) 

there is nothing here to create the feeling 1 on our part — nothing to cherish the feel- 
ing of superiority in the minds of foreigners who visit us. It a this moral emanci- 
pation — thi, liberation of the mind from worse than iron fetters — tliat repays us ten 
thousand times over all tliat it has cost us, and makes us grateful to <V>d and 001 
American patrons, for the happy change which has taken place in our situation. " 

Extract of a letter from Captain Nicholson, of the United 
States Navy, who spent souk- limn at Liberia. 

"The appearance of all the colonists, those of Monrovia, as well as those of 
Caldwell, indicated more than contentment. Their manners were those of free- 
men, who experienced the blessings of liberty, and appreciated the boon. Many 
of them had by trade acquired a competency. • • * The children 
bom in the country are line looking, and I presume can be raised as easily as those 
of the natives. All the colonists with whom 1 had communication (arid with nearly 
the whole of them did I communicate, in person, or by my officers) exp-resned ttieir 
decided wish to remain in their present situation, rather titan return again to the 
United States. I cannot give you better evidence of the prosperity of the colony, 
than by mentioning, that eight of rag crew (coloured mechanics,) after going ashore 
two several day, applied for and received their disc h arge , in order to remain a* 
permanent settlers. These men had been absent from their country upwards of 
three years, and had among them nearly two thousand dollars in clothes and money. 
Had they not been thoroughly convinced tliat their happiness and prosperity would 
be better promoted by remaining among their free brethren in Liberia, they would 
not have determined on so momentous a step as quitting the United States, perliaps 
forever, where they all had left friends and relative-.." 

Extract of a Letter from Captain Kennedy, of the Java, who 
left Monrovia, Dec. 21th, 183ft 

Norfolk, June 22, 1831. 
"It may not be improper to observe, that my inquiries were commenced under 
auspices very unfavourable to the practicability of the scheme of the society; for 
while I trust, I yielded unfeigned acknowledgments of the p' et }' inf ^ purity of 
purpose which governed its worthy and disinterested projectors, yet the vast dif- 
ficulties attending the prosecution of their labours, and the eery problematical re- 
sults in the want of succcs,, left an impression on my mind altogether unfavoura- 
ble to the institution. Under these impressions, therefore, I commenced my inqui- 
ries with great caution. I sought out the most shrewd and intelligent of th 
nists, many of whom were personally known to me, and by long and wary conver- 
sations, endeavoured to elicit from them any dissatisfaction with their situation, if 
such existed, or any latent desire to return to their native country. Neither of 
these did I observe. On the contrary, I thought I could perceive tliat they consi- 
dered that they had started into a new existence; that, disencumbered of the mor- 
tifying relations in which they formerly stood in society, they felt themselves proud 
in their attitude, and seemed conscious, that while they were the founders of a new 
empire, they were prosecuting the noble purpose of the regeneration of the land 
of their fathers." 

Extract of a Letter from Captain Sherman, of the Liberia, 
dated Philadelphia, May 10, 1830. 

"The agent is the chief magistrate of the colony, and the physician his assistant 
No white people are allowed to reside in the colony, for the purpose of trade, or of 
pursuing any meclianical business, such being intended for the exclusive benefit of 
the coloured people. The coloured secretary, collector of customs, surveyor and 
constables are appointed by the agent. The portagent, sheriff, treasurer and other 
officers, are elective; and all the offices, except that of agent aj»d physician, are 
filled by coloured people. 

' ' Two native king* have put themselves and their subjects, supposed to amount to 
ten thousand, under the protection of the colony, and are ready, should it be thought 
necessary or expedient by the setders to put arm3 in their hands, to make common 
cause with them in case of hostilities by any of the natives, which, however, is not 
anticipated, as the most friendly disposition Is manifested by all the natives of the 
country from whom any danger might lave been apprehended 



( 24 ) 

"The township of Caldwell is about seven miles from Monrovia, on St. Paul's river, 
and contains a population of live hundred and sixty agriculturists. The soil is ex- 
ceedingly fertile and pleasant, and the people satisfied and happy. The emigrants 
carried out by me, and from whom I received a pleasing and satisfactory account of 
that part of the territory, are located there." 

Letter from Captain Abels, of the Schooner Margaret 
Mercer, dated Washington, Feb. 10, 1832. 

"Having just arrived in the United States from the colony of Liberia, to which 
place I went as master of the schooner Margaret Mercer, and where I remained 
thirteen days, during which time I was daily on shore, and carefully observed the 
state of affairs, and inquired into the condition of the people, I venture to state 
some facts in regard to the circumstances and prospects of the colony. On the 
14th of December I arrived, and on the 15th went on shore, and was received in 
the most polite and friendly manner by the governor, Dr. Mechlin, who introduced 
me to the ministers and principal inhabitants. All the colonists appeared to be 
in good health. Ml my expectations in regard to the aspect of things^ the health, 
harmony, order, contentment, industry, and general prosperity of the settlers, were 
more than realized. There are about two hundred buildings in the town of Mon- 
rovia, extending along the Cape Montserado, not far from a mile and a quarter. — 
Most of these are good substantial houses and stores, (the first story of many of 
them being of stone,) and some of them handsome, spacious, painted, and with Ve- 
pitian blinds. Nothing struck me as more remarkable than the great superiority, 
in intelligence, manners, conversation, dress, and general appearance in every re- 
spect, of the people over their coloured brethren in America. So much was I pleased 
with what I saw, that I observed to the people, should I make a true report, it 
would hardly be credited in the United States. Among all that I conversed with, 
I did not find a discontented person, or hear one express a desire to return to America. 
I saw no intemperance, nor did I hear a profane word uttered by any one. Being 
a Minister of the Gospel, on Christmas day I preached both in the Methodist and 
Baptist Church, to full and attentive congregations of from three to four hundred 
persons in each. I know of no place where the Sabbath appears to be more re- 
spected than in Monrovia. I was glad to see that the Colonial Agent or Governor 
is a constant attendant on Divine service, and appears desirous of promoting the 
moral and religious welfare of the people. Most of the settlers appear to be ra- 
pidly acquiring property ; and I have no doubt they are doing better for themselves 
and their children in Liberia, thaii they could do in any other part of the world. 
Could the free people of colour in this country but see the real condition of their 
brethren who have settled in Africa, I am persuaded they would require no other 
motive to iiiduce them to emigrate. This is my decided and deliberate judgment. 
"P. S. I have several times dined with the Colonists, and I think no better tables 
could be set in any part of the world. We had every thing that heart could desire, 
of meats, and fish, and fowls, and vegetables, and wines," &c. &c. 

Extract of a letter from Mr. Mechlin, Colony Jlgent. 

" As to the morals of the colonists, I consider them much better than those of the 
people of the U. S.; that is, you may take an equal number of the inhabitants from 
any section of the Union, and you will find more drunkards, more profane swearers 
and sabbath-breakers, &c, than in Liberia. Indeed, I know of no country where 
things are conducted more quietly and orderly than in this colony. You rarely 
hear an oath, and as to riots and breaches of the peace, I recollect of but one in- 
stance, and that of a trifling nature, that has come under my notice since 1 assumed 
the government of the colony. The sabbath is more strictly observed, than 1 ever 
saw it in the United States. Our Sunday schools are well attended, not only by 
the children of the colonists, but also by the native children who reside amongst 
us. The natives themselves are so well acquainted with our strict observance of 
this day, that you never find them offering anything for sale, nor can you hire 
them to work for you; I mean those who have been amongst us, and at all acquaint- 
ed widi our customs." 



( 25 ) 

Extract from the examination of Mr. Devany, High Sheriff 
of Liberia, before a Committee of the House of Representa- 
tives of the U. S., May 27-"28, 1830. 

"Some instances of intemperance have occurred— but the habit is confined to 
two persons only, and does not go to such an extent, as to be of serious injury to 
the families of the individuals, who are blacksmiths. There are three churches, 
frame buildings, one of them with a steeple. One belongs to the baptists, one to 
the method! sts, and one, not yet finished, to the presbyterians. Divine service is 
attended three times on Sundays, and also on Thursday and Friday evenings. The 
Sunday schools are attended by many of the native chddren. All who can be de- 
cently clad, are in the habit of attending-." 

" The court holds its sessions on the first Monday in 

even- month. Juries are empanneled as with us. The jurisdiction of the court 
extends over the whole colony. The trials are principally for larceny, and the cri- 
minals generally natives, who commit thefts in the settlements. A fcw instances 
■of kidnapping- have occurred. These depredations were committed on the recap- 
tured Africans. To the honour of the emigrants be it mentioned, that but jive of 
their number have been committed for stealing or misdemeanor since 1827. 

"There is much hospitality to be found in Monrovia; and among- the inhabitants, 
a greater proportion of moral and religious people, than in this city, [Philadelphia.] 
J never saw a man intoxicated, or heard any profane sweari?ig during the three weeks 
J was there." — Captain Shehman. 

Yours, &c. M. C. 
Philadelphia, April 22, 1832. 

LETTER IX. 

Soil and Climate of Liberia. — Commerce and Productions. — 
Disadvantages of Slavery to the White population. — Ad- 
vantages of Colonization to our Free Coloured Population. 

Dear Sir — 

The colonists in their address to the coloured population of the United States, dated 
September 1827, observe that "The soil is not exceeded for fertility, or productive- 
ness, when properly cultivated, by any soil in the world. The hills and plains are 
covered with perpetual verdure. The" productions of the soil go on through the year, 
without intermission. Notwithstanding- the imperfections of the farming- tools used 
by the natives, they raise more than they can consume, and frequentlv more than 
they can sell. We have," they add, "no dreary winter here, for "one-half the 
year, to consume the productions of the other half. " Katureis constantly renovating 
herself, and constantly pouring her treasures all the year round, into the lap of the 
industrious. 

" The true character of the African climate," continue the colonists, " is not un- 
derstood in other countries. Its inhabitants are as robust, as healthy, and as long- 
lived, to say the least, as those of any other country. Nothing- like an epidemic has 
ever appeared in the colony— nor can we learn from the natives, that the calamity of 
a sweeping sickness ever yet existed in this part of the continent. But the change 
from a temperate to a tropical country, is a great one— too great not to affect the 
health, more or less— and in the case of old people, and very voung children, it 
often causes death. In the early years of the colony* want of good houses, the 
great fatigues and dangers of the settlers, their irregular mode of living, and the 
hardships and discouragements they met with, greatly helped the other causes of 
sickness, which prevailed to an alarming extent, and were attended with great 
mortality. But we look back to these times as to a season of trial long past, and nearly 
forgotten. Our houses and circumstances are now comfortable,- and for the last two 
or three years not one person in fifty, from the middle and southern states, has died 
from the change of climate." 

,." Fo !.' b . eaut y and fertility, the country is surpassed by none in the world,- for salu- 
brity oj situation, excellent water, and facility of being brought under cultivation, 
by none equally unpeopled in Africa. Imagine a fin* river, half a mile wide, and 



( 26 ) 

affording across its channel from bank to bank from three to four fathoms of water — ■ 
the country on either side champaign, and the level about twenty to thirty feet above 
that of the river — the banks every where perpendicular, exhibiting, in order, the 
different strata of which the general bed of the country is composed — the waters of 
the river to be sweet at a very small distance above the mouth, eight months in the 
year — at nine miles, the year round — and you have a correct, but still imperfect 
idea of this noble river, and the adjacent country. The original growth is exu- 
berant, and the soil a rich, deep and loose loam, entirely destitute of stones, ex- 
hibiting in some places a prevalence of sand, and in others of a fat clay — but all 
about equally productive." — Jlshmun. 

"Not an hour have I spent here without feeling the refreshing and salutary in- 
fluences of a fresh breeze from the ocean. The settlement can never be without 
it. * * No situation of Western Africa can be more salubrious. The sea air 
does all that can be done for it in this climate. One peculiarity is, that the night 
air is nearly as pure as any other. * * The rapidity and luxuriance of vegeta- 
tion here, the natives of temperate latitudes can hardly imagine." — Idem. 

Dr. Mechlin states in a recent communication, that " to those 
■emigrants who have had the fever, and are in a great measure ac- 
climated, Africa proves a more congenial clime than the United 
States. There they enjoy a greater immunity from disease: and 
pulmonary affections, so rife among the coloured population in the 
United States, are almost unknown in Liberia." 

" It has been objected that the climate is very unhealUiy — this is true as it res- 
pects the whites, but erroneous as respects the coloured people. Those from the 
middle and northern states have to undergo what is called a seasoning, — that is, 
they generally take the fever the first month of their residence? but it has rarely 
proved fatal since accommodations have been prepared for their reception: those 
from Georgia, the Carolinas, and the southern parts of Virginia, either escape the 
fever altogether, or have it very slightly. Deaths occur there indeed, as in other 
places: but Dr. Mechlin, the agent, assured me that the bills of mortality would 
show a less proportion of deaths, than those of Baltimore, Philadelphia, or New 
York." — Captain Shehman. 

The uniform experience of the colonists has proved that emigrants 
from the Southern States become speedily acclimated. If they have 
the fever of the country, it affects them very lightly — and those 
who are prudent, and observe the advice of the settlers, are in no 
more danger than emigrants from Europe to this country. 

Commerce and Productions — The commerce of Liberia, as 
yet in its infancy, is respectable, and increasing annually. The 
exports are rice, palm oil, ivory, tortoise shell, dye wood, gold, 
hides, wax, and coffee. Coffee and cotton grow spontaneously. 
Indigo and the sugar cane succeed, and will be cultivated to ad- 
vantage. Camwood is abundant, and mahogany grows at the 
cape. The timber of Liberia is various and durable, and well 
adapted to building. The imports consist of an assortment of the 
productions of Europe, the West Indies and America. The port 
of Monrovia is seldom clear of European and American vessels, 
loading and unloading. 

A trading company has been formed at Monrovia, with a capi- 
tal of $1000; and an agreement entered into, that no dividend 
shall be made until the profits increase the capital to $20,000. 
The stock has risen from 50 to 75 on transfer shares. 

A colonist, of the name of Waring, sold goods to the amount 
of $70,000, in the year 1830. The sales of Mr. Devany, the 
sheriff, amounted to between 24 and $25,000, and his property is 



( 27 ) 

worth about $20,000, made during the six years m which he 
has resided in Monrovia. 

"The commerce of the colony, during the year 1831, has gTeatly exceeded 
that of any former year. Within that period 46 vessels visited the port, of which 
21 were Americans, and a majority of the remainder English. The exports amount- 
ed to nearly 90,000 dollars, and the merchandize, and produce on hand, at the close 
of the year, amounted to about 23,000 dollars." 

Disadvantages to the Whites resulting from Slavery. 

"To provide for the free negro a country, is alike the dictate of humanity towards 
him, and of policy towards ourselves. While he remains here, no white labourer 
will seek employment near him. Hence it is, that in some of the richest counties 
east of the Blue Ridge, the white population is stationary, and in many others it 
is retrograde. Virginia, once the first state in numbers, as she is still in territory, 
has become the third, and will soon have to descend to the fourth rank. The valua- 
tion of the lands of New York, exceeds the estimate of all the la?ids and slaves in Vir- 
ginia." — Richmond and Manchester Colonization Society. 

"Experience has taught us, that slaves add nothing to our wealth. Where they 
exist, labour is not only high, but badly performed; and the communities growing 
up around us, which are clear of this evil, flourish over us, and by their cheapness 
of labour, nicer mechanism, and more abundant industry, are making us tributary. 
The progress of light — the conduct of other nations — and particularly that of our 
South American neighbours, in liberating their slaves — the growing belief of the 
disadvantages of slavery, with other causes, contribute to increase the conviction 
that slavery is an evil, and that its consequences may one day or other become terrible." 
— Kentucky Colonization Society. 

" Slavery is ruinous to the whites — retards improvement— roots out an industrious 
population, banishes the yeomanry of the country — deprives the spinner, the Wea- 
ver, the smith, the shoemaker, the carpenter, of employment and support This 
evil admits of no remedy — it is increasing, and will continue to increase, until the 
whole country will be inundated with one black wave covering its whole extent, 
with a few white faces here and there floating on the surface. The master has no 
capital but what is vested in human flesh — the father, instead of being richer for 
his sons, is at a loss to provide for them — there is no diversity of occupations, no 
incentive to enterprise. Labour of every species is disreputable, because performed 
mostly by slaves. Our towns are stationary, our villages almost every where declining 
— arid the general aspect of the country marks the curse of a wasteful, idle y reckless 
population, who have no interest in the soil, and care not how muck it is impo- 
verished. Public improvements are neglected, and the entire continent does not 
present a region for which nature has done so much, and art so little. If cultivated 1 
by free labour, the soil of Virginia is capable of sustaining a dense population,, 
among whom labour woidd be honourable, and where * the busy hum of men* 
would tell that all were happy, and that all were free."— Speech of T. Marshal, of 
Fauquier Co. in the legislature of Virginia. 

The advantages of Colonization to our Free Coloured People. 
That the free coloured population in this country labour under 
the most oppressive disadvantages, which their freedom can by no 
means counterbalance, is too obvious to admit of doubt. I waive 
all inquiry whether this be right or wrong. I speak of things as- 
they are — not as they might, or ought to be. They are cut off 
from the most remote chance of amalgamation with the white po- 
pulation, by feelings or prejudices, call them what you will, that 
are ineradicable. Their situation is more unfavourable than that, 
of many slaves. " With all the burdens, cares and responsibili- 
ties of freedom, they have few or none of its substantial benefits. 
Their associations are, and must be, chiefly with slaves. Their 
right of suffrage gives them little, if any, political influence, and 
they are practically, if not theoretically excluded from represen- 



( 28 ) 

tation and weight in our public councils." No merit, no ser- 
vices, no talents can ever elevate many of them to a level with 
the whites. Occasionally, an exception may arise. A coloured 
individual, of great talents, merits, and wealth, may emerge from 
the crowd. Cases of this kind are to the last degree rare. The 
coloured people are subject to legal disabilities, more or less gall- 
ing and severe, in almost every state in the Union. Who has not 
deeply regretted their late harsh expulsion from the state of Ohio, 
and their being forced to abandon the country of their birth, 
which had profited by their labours, and to take refuge in a fo- 
reign land? Severe regulations have been recently passed in Lou- 
isiana, and various other states, to prevent the introduction of free- 
people of colour. Whenever they appear, they are to be banished 
in sixty days. The strong opposition to the establishment of a 
negro college in Newhaven, speaks in a language not to be mis- 
taken, the jealousy with which they are regarded. And there is 
no reason to expect, that the lapse of centuries will make any 
change in this respect. They will always, unhappily, be regard- 
ed as an inferior race. In some of the states, they are. actually 
doomed to idleness, because, however skilful they may be, in any 
branch of manufactures, white operatives cannot generally be in- 
duced to work with them. Such being their situation in this 
country, surely they ought to long as eagerly for a settlement in 
the land of their ancestors, as the captive tribes of Israel hun- 
gered for a return to the land of Canaan. 

What a contrast to their situation in Liberia! There they will 
be lords of the soil, and have every inducement and every oppor- 
tunity to cultivate their minds. They will not be borne down 
by that sense of inferiority, from whose goadings they cannot es- 
cape here, and which is enough to depress minds the most highly 
gifted. According to their respective merits, they may aspire 
to any of the offices of honour and profit and influence, in the co- 
lony. The bar, and the bench, and the medical profession, will 
be open to them, from which they are debarred here by an im- 
passible barrier. 

It is hut fair and impartial to give the views of a portion of the 
coloured people, in regard to the plan of colonization. It remains- 
for the reader to decide on their correctness, when he has duly 
weighed the contents of letter VIII. 

The following resolutions were passed by a meeting of the peo- 
ple of colour in New Bedford, January 22, 1832. 

"Resolved, That in whatever light we view the Colonization Society, we discover 
nothing' in it but terror, prejudice and oppression; that the warm and beneficent 
hand ol'philanthrophy is not apparent in the system; but the influence of the So- 
ciety on public opinion is more prejudicial to the interest and welfare of the people 
of colour in the United States, than slavery itself. 

"Resolved, That the Society, to effect its purpose, the removal of the free people 
of colour (not the slaves) through its agents, teaches the public to believe that it is 
patriotic and benevolent to withhold from us knowledge and the means of acquir- 
ing subsistence, and to look upon us as unnatural and illegal residents in this coun- 
try; and thus by force of prejudice, if not by law, endeavour to compel us to 
embark for Africa, and that, too, apparently by our own free will and consent." 



29 
LETTER X. 

Of Africa before the Irruptions of the Barbarians. — Effects of 
Colonization on the Slave Trade. — Slight sketch of that nefa- 
rious traffic. 

Dear Sir, 

Those who argue, from the present state of the coloured popu- 
lation of this country, against the prospect of a high degree of 
civilization in Africa, reason from very imperfect data. Here 
the coloured people have laboured, and still labour, under almost 
every possible disadvantage. In most of the southern states, 
slaves are debarred from the attainment of the slightest rudiments 
of knowledge. And even in states free from slavery, the coloured 
people have little opportunity of cultivation. Condemned by 
poverty, almost universally, to the lowest occupations, they have 
neither time nor means to improve themselves. But they will 
not suffer much, on a fair comparison with whites of the same 
grade. The best criterion, however, by which to judge, is the pro- 
gress they have made in Liberia, where they escape the degrada- 
tion to which they are exposed here. Of their improvement in mo- 
rals, and manners, and habits, the testimony of Captains Sherman, 
Kennedy, Nicholson, and Abels, from which I have made large 
quotations in the preceding pages, precludes all doubt. It may 
be confidently stated, that none of the American colonies made 
greater advances in the same space of time than they have done in 
the eight years that have elapsed since the establishment of order 
and good government in 1S24. The contrast between the Colonists 
at Liberia and the people of the United States, is not so great as 
between the inhabitants of Great Britain at present, and those 
in olden times, when the latter painted their bodies, had no chim- 
nies to their houses, lay upon straw on the ground, covered 
themselves with skins fastened with skewers, and were ten- 
ants in common with the pigs which partook of the hospitality 
of their houses. 

Africa, though brutalized by wars, the invasions of barbarians, 
and the most grinding despotism, was once on as proud an emi- 
nence in point of civilization as any part of Europe. Carthage 
contended for the supremacy with Rome for one hundred and 
twenty years— and, but for domestic factions, the bane of repub- 
lics, would probably have subjugated Italy. The destruction of 
the Carthaginian annals by the Romans renders it impossible to 
enumerate any of her great men, except her warriors. Rome 
never produced a greater general than Hannibal. Some of his 
relations were men of great talents in the same department. Ju- 
gurtha was superior to most of the Romans who were sent against 
him. Terence, the dramatist, was an African. 

Christianity and civilization were early introduced into Africa, 
There were several provincial councils held there. At one of 
them, held in Carthage, in 397, the canon of the Roman Catholic 



30 

Bible was settled. Another was held in the same place in 410 — 
and two others at Milevi. In the fifth century, the number of Ca- 
tholic Bishops in Africa, was four hundred. Origen, Tertullian, 
Cyprian and Augustine, among the great lights of Christianity 
in their day, were Africans. And it is not too much to expect 
that future Hannibals and Terences and Cyprians and Augus- 
lines will arise to defend and illuminate that now benighted 
country. Should such a result take place, the merit will in a 
great degree belong to the illustrious founders of the Colonization 
Society. 

Among the striking advantages attending the Colony at Libe- 
ria, is the check it has given to the slave trade already, and the 
probable suppression, ultimately, of that nefarious traffic on a 
large portion of the western coast of Africa by the gradual exten- 
sion of the settlements. Before the establishment of the settle- 
ments at Liberia, there were several slave factories within a few 
miles of Monrovia, all of which have been completely broken up. 
Four or five years since, there was not a single factory from 
Sierra Leone to Cape Mount, a distance of 100 miles; and 120 
miles, from Cape Mount, to Trade Town, the whole of the coast 
of Liberia. More recently, a factory has been established at 
Cape Mount, forty-five miles from Monrovia, where the trade is 
carried on briskly. But it is probable, as soon as the Colony 
gains more strength, that this nest of pirates, kidnappers and 
traders in human flesh and human suffering, will be extirpated. 

The African chiefs, in the neighborhood of Liberia, have in 
general voluntarily abandoned the traffic, finding they can pro- 
em e what articles they want, of European, American, and West 
India goods, by the sale of their own domestic productions. Some 
of them have put themselves under the protection of the colony. 

To duly appreciate the advantages of this result, it is only ne- 
cessary to reflect for a moment on the horrors of this nefarious 
traffic*; and although it has been presented times without number, 
to the execration of mankind , I may be permited to take a bird's 
eye view of it. The number of slaves kidnapped in 1824, was 
120,000. And the number imported into the single port of Rio 
for nine years, 1820 — S, was 261,964. 



In 1820, 15,020 
1821, 24,134 
1S22, 27,363 



In 1823, 20,349 

1824, 29,503 

1825, 26.254 



In 1826, 33,999 

1827, 29,787 

1828, 43,555 



Total 249,964 

Walsh's Notices of Brazil, vol. 2,p. 178. 



Notwithstanding the efforts of the chief maritime powers of 
Europe, and those of the United States, to suppress this traffic, 
there have been, from the two towns, Muney and Pangas, 352 
cargoes of slaves taken, in little more than a year. 

It has been estimated that one third, but say one fifth, perish in 
the voyage ; and that an equal number die after their landing, of 
diseases contracted on the voyage, or of grief for their forlorn si- 

* a: i 



tuation 



31 

To heighten the enormity of this "sin crying to heaven for 
vengeance," it is ascertained, that in cases of scarcity of provi- 
sion, the slaves are often remorselessly thrown overboard. On 
board a vessel some time since, thirty nine negroes became blind, 
and twelve had lost an eye. They were thrown into the fathom- 
less ocean. A single vessel, the Protector, took on board at Moz- 
ambique 807 slaves, of whom 339 died on the voyage. 

The Maria Primeira, a Portugese ship, took on board upwards 
of 500 slaves. This number was reduced to 403 in consequence 
of extreme crowding, before she was captured, and brought into 
Sierra Leone. Nearly 100 more died soon afterwards, from disea- 
ses contracted on board. — {Transactions of the London African 
Association.) 

The following heart-rending picture of the slave trade has been 
drawn by Sir George Collier, who was employed on the coast 
of Africa, to suppress it. 

" Such is the merciless treatment of the slaves, that no fancy can picture the 
horrors of the voyage . Crowded together so as not to have the power to move — 
linked one to the other by the leg — never unfettered while life remains, or till the 
iron shall have frelted the flesh almost to the bone — forced under a deck, as I 
have seen them, not thirty inches in height— breathing' an atmosphere the most 
putrid and pestilential possible — with little food and less water — subject to the 
most severe punishment, at the caprice or fancy of the brute who may command 
the vessel— it is to me a matter of extreme wonder that any of these miserable 
wretches live the voyage through. Many of them, indeed, perish on the passage, 
and those of them who remain to meet the shore, present a picture of wretched- 
ness language cannot express." Yours, &c. M C. 
April 26, 1826. 

Letter from the Hon. James Madison, to the Secretary of the 
Society, dated Montpelier, December 29, 1831. 

Dear Sir : I received, in due time, your letter of the 21st ult. and with due 
sensibility to the subject of it. Such, however, has been the effect of a painful 
rheumatism on my general condition, as well in disqualifying my fingers for the 
use of the pen, that 1 could not do justice "to the principles and measures of the 
Colonization Society in all the great and various relations they sustain to our own 
country and to Africa," if my views of them could have the* value which your 
partiality supposes. I may observe in brief, that the Society had always my 
good wishes, though with hopes of its success less sanguine than were enter 
tamed by others, found to have been the better judges ; and, that I feel the 
greatest pleasure at the progress already made by the Society, and the en- 
couragement to encounter remaining difficulties afforded by the earlier and 
greater ones already overcome. Many circumstances at the present moment 
seem to concur in brightening the prospects of the Society, and cherishing the hope 
that Ike lime will cume, when the dreadful calamity which has so long afflicted our 
country, andjilhd so many wilh despair, will be gradually removed, and by means 
consistent with juslice,peace and the general satisfaction : thus giving to our coun- 
try the full enjoyment of f he blessings of liberty, and to the world thefull benefit 
oi its great example. I never considered the main difficulty of the great work 
as lying in the deficiency of emancipation, but in an inadequacy of asylums for 
such a growing mass of population, and in the great expense of removing it to 
its new home. The spirit of private manumission as the laws may permit, and 
the exiles may consent, is increasing and will increase; and there are sufficient 
indications that the public authorities in slave-holding States are looking forward 
to interpositions in different forms that must have a powerful effect. With re- . 
spect to the new abode for the emigrants, all agree that the choice made by the 
Society is rendered peculiarly appropriate by considerations which need not be 
repeated, and if other situations should not be found eligible receptacles for a 
portion of them, the prospects in Africa seem to be expanding in a highly 
encouraging degree. 



32 

4 
" In contemplating the pecuniary resources needed for the removal of such t 
number to so great a distance, my thoughts and hopes have been long turned to 
the rich fund presented in the western lands of the Nation, which will soon en- 
tirely cease to be under a pledge for another object. The great one in question 
is truly of a national character, and it is known that distinguished patriots not 
dwelling in slave-holding States have viewed the object in that light, and would 
be willing to let the national domain be a resource in effecting it. 

•» Should it be remarked that the States, though all may be interested in reliev- 
ing our country irom the coloured population, are not equally so; it is but fair 
to recollect, that the sections most to be benefited, are those whose cessions crea- 
ated the fund to be disposed of. 

" I am aware of the constitutional obstacle which has presented itself; but if the 
general will be reconciled to an application of the territorial fund to the removal 
of the coloured population, a grant to Congress of the necessary authority could 
be carried, with little delay, through the 'forms of the Constitution. 

"Sincerely wishing an increasing success to the labours of the Society, I pray 
you to be assured of my esteem, and to accept my friendly salutations." 

Rev. R. R. Gurley. 

JAMES MADISON. 

Extract of a Letter from the Hon. John Marshall, Chief Justice 
of the United States, dated Richmond, December 14, 1831. 

" The great object of the Society, I presume, is to obtain pecuniary aids. Ap- 
plication will undoubtedly be made, I hope successfully, to the several State Le- 
gislatures, by the societies formed within them respectively. It is extremely de- 
sirable that they should pass permanent laws on the subject : and the excitement 
produced by the late insurrection makes this a favourable moment for the friends 
of the Colony to press for such acts. It would be also desirable, if such a direc- 
tion could be given to State Legislation as might have some tendency to incline 
the people of colour to migrate. This, however, is a subject of much delicacy. 
Whatever may be the success of our endeavours to obtain acts for pemanent aids, 
I have no doubt that our applications for immediate contributions will receive 
attention. It is possible, though not probable, that more people of colour may 
be disposed to migrate than can be provided for, with the fund the Society may 
be enabled to command. Under this impression I suggested, some years past, to 
one or two of the Board of Managers, to allow a small additional bounty in lands 
to those who would pay their own passage in whole or in part. The suggestion, 
however, was not approved. 

" It is undoubtedly of great importance to retain the countenance and protec- 
tion of the General Government. Some of our cruisers stationed on the Coast of 
Africa would, at the same time, interrupt the slave trade — a horrid traffic, detested 
by all good men, and would protect the vesseli and commerce of the Colony from pi- 
rates who infest those seas. The power of the government to afford this aid is not, 
I believe, contested. I regret that its power to grant pecuniary aid is not 
equally free from question. On this subject, I have always thought, and still 
think, that the proposition made by Mr. King, in the Senate, is the most unex- 
ceptionable, and the most effective that can be devised. 

" The fund would probably operate as rapidly as would be desirable, when we 
take into view the other resources which might come in aid of it ; and its applica- 
tion would be, perhaps, less exposed to those constitutional objections which are 
made in the South than the application of money drawn from the treasury and 
raised by taxes. The lands are the property of the United States, and have here- 
tofore been disposed of by the government under the idea of absolute ownership." 



Ja'/2 



